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THE FLOEAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



will grow geraniums at all, as hardy as 

 Tom Thumb, as free in blooming, as 

 dwarf in habit, and may go with " Stella " 

 as the agents in a new and improved style 

 of colouring. The Crystal Palace Purple 

 for a centre, Model Nosegay outside it in 

 poor soil, then Imperial Crimson, and out- 

 side row Stella, and you would have a 

 rich bed, that would give a charming 

 relief to calceolarias, or that most dazzling 

 of all compounds in bedding, Flower of 

 the Day and the variegated alyssuin, plant 

 and plant throughout. Among the true 

 scarlets, Crystal Palace takes the lead, 

 Attraction is not beaten in its way, Sheen 

 Rival has no rival in its own peculiar 

 orange scarlet, and Wellington -Hero 

 supersedes Reidii in the conspicuousness 

 of its white eye and substantial scarlet 

 petals. 



Among the new light-coloured gera- 

 niums the best for bedding is Madame 

 Vaucher, zone-leaved, dwarf habit, free 

 lateral growth, large trusses of pure white 

 flowers, with pink anthers in the centre. 

 Paul Labbe, a clear rosy -salmon, will not 

 do for a bed, except perhaps in warm and 

 elevated places, but, for greenhouse and 

 conservatory, is most desirable. For a 

 companion to it take Henry de Beaudot, 

 true salmon, margined with white, and, 

 with the old Kingsbury Pet for compari- 

 son, you will see your way clear how far 

 to propagate either of them this season. 

 People make such a fuss about scarlet 

 flowers that some of the most refreshing 

 tones of colour producible in geraniums 

 are seen only at rare intervals, instead of 

 being counted among " common things." 

 What a charming thing is Amy Robsart, 

 with its coral stems, ruby-tinted leaf, and 

 blossoms, combining salmon and carmine 

 in exquisite delicacy and richness. Is 

 there anything to Burpass Christina, with 

 its full habit and large trusses of deep rosy 

 piuk, bold as Punch in its effect on the 

 eye, yet softened from the garish red to a 

 colour which gives a sense of repose ? 



Among the new variegates there are 

 few that we can recommend for general 

 purposes. However charming under glass, 

 very few of them will stand the brunt of 

 sun and rain without being the worse for 

 it. Growers of the Golden Chain must, 

 however, try Golden Vase as a decided im- 

 provement and a good second-row variety. 

 Cloth of Gold has a new companion kind 

 in Golden Fleece, the former having a 

 crimson truss, and the latter a true scarlet, 

 but no untrained eye would distinguish the 

 foliage of the one from the other, though 

 a connoisseur iu geraniums would have no 



difficulty. Where Golden Chain does 

 badly Cloth of Gold should be tried as a 

 substitute, as easier to keep in winter, 

 carrying its foliage well during trying 

 weather, and, when bedded, giving the 

 etfect of Tom Thumb with golden leaves. 

 In Golden Chain the leaf is polished, in 

 this it is dull, as in all the true horseshoes, 

 and this is a good mark of superior hardi- 

 ness, which is the very quality we have 

 been wanting among the yellow-leaved 

 variegates. Oriana and Queen's Favourite 

 are pretty new silver-leaved kinds, but 

 quite unfit for beds on the ordinary mode 

 of planting. The Queen's Favourite, how- 

 ever, will be everybody's favourite as the 

 choicest silver minimum geranium for 

 baskets, vases, and pots. 



If the present season brought no other 

 novelty than Holland's Petunia Queen, we 

 could still say we were advancing. Farewell 

 now to Shrubland Rose, its heyday is past 

 and over, and it must soon sink into ob- 

 scurity. There is no better habited bed- 

 ding petunia in all the catalogues, and, 

 like the plants turned out for exhibition 

 by the same skilful hand, this petunia has 

 a good foliage, which nine-tenths of them 

 have not, and, in turning out from pots, 

 you need not snap a single leaf or stem, for 

 it is as pliable as Phaeton is brittle, and 

 must stand first for good growing qualities. 

 It is a tremendous bloomer, colour bright 

 rose, flowers as large as Magnificans, with 

 white throat, and the blooms held up 

 boldly above the green groundwork of the 

 leaves. 



Here arc the best of the cheap petunias 

 for bedding : — White : Eliza Schteffer, 

 white striped violet ; Inimitable, flaked 

 with purple; Queen of Whites, pure while; 

 Souvenir, white flaked ; Silver Shield, sil- 

 very white; Bride and White Beauty. 

 Lilac : Ccerulescens grandiflora, bluish- 

 lilac ground, violet centre, very fine, but 

 will not endure full exposure to the sun ; 

 General Canrobert, rosy-lilac with crimson 

 reining ; Hermione, blush with purple- 

 lilac flakes, large ; Little Nell, neat, free 

 blooming, violet-lilac, the best of its colour 

 for a small bed ; Lilac Superb, rosy-lilac, 

 the best of the same class for a large bed ; 

 Mademoiselle Anne Pierrot, rosy-lilac, large, 

 a good bedder ; Model, lilac-blush, streaked 

 crimson, a good bedder on a cool soil, but 

 rarely succeeds in hot places. Hose : The 

 Queen, just described ; La Reine, dark 

 rose, crimson veins ; Le Caid, purple- 

 rose, striped white, always good ; Madame 

 de Pruines, deep rose, crimson veins, most 

 beautiful. Crimson : Magna Cocciuea 

 makes a grand bed ; Phaeton, dark velvet 



